at first i wanted to see red,
but then i just shook my head sadly about these powerdrunk cretins!
is there anything we can do to let them see the light here?

Land Claimants Obtain Hunting Permits
07 Oct 2011

"It is shocking that hunting quotas in Limpopo's nature reserves were awarded to land claimants without
ecological studies having been done in advance," Dr Herman Els, manger: hunting and conservation of the SA
Hunters and Game Conservation Association (SAHGCA) said in an interview with Pot-Shot.

He commented on a decision of the department which is responsible for nature conservation in Limpopo that
thwarts sustainable nature management by granting rights to claimants in reserves before the claims have
been confirmed or finalised.

"It is unacceptable that claimants may interfere in the management of reserves and even threaten to take it
over. It is especially valid for the Blouberg nature reserve where the provincial department of economic
development, environmental affairs and tourism illegally granted right to land claimants in the reserves before
ascertaining whether the claim is valid," Els continued.

In 2009 the department gave the Manoko claimants the right to hunt game, including buffalo, giraffes, deer and
warthogs in the serve "in and effort to reform the game industry".

The semi-government body, Limpopo Tourism, has also entered into a cooperation agreement clashing with
the National Cooperation Framework and possibly the Protected Areas Act on behalf of the department with
the Manoko's for the management of the caps in the reserve.

In addition, the department also granted hunting permits to claimants of other reserves and withdrew it again
last year, because ecological studies have not been done and disputes over claims have not been settled in
some cases. Thereafter, claimants started fighting among each other on the rights.

Landbouweekblad reports that Manoko said "complicated matters" delay the completion of the claim. The claim
was amended in the Government Gazette for the third time on 26 August this year. According to the notice it
was submitted on 29 December 1998.

Manoko says they are waiting on approval from the Cabinet that the original deadline for restitution claims be
set aside to claim more land which was not included in the original claim due to a "technical mistake".